The present invention relates to a text processor and more particularly to processing of frequently used phrases.
In an input method of a Japanese sentence in a text processor, a so-called Kana-to-Kanji conversion method for converting input Kana or Roman characters to a corresponding Kanji character is a main conversion method. One problem encountered in a course of document formation by the Kana-to-Kanji conversion method is trouble in repeatedly keying Kana characters or Roman characters for the same phrase which frequently appears in one document. For a beginner who does not learn by heart the arrangement of Kana keys or alphabet keys on a keyboard, the trouble may be more than that which could be imagined by a third person. As one approach to resolve this problem, an input function by a macro code is usually imparted to the text processor. In this method, a user enters a relatively small number of selected phrases by special keys (so-called constant pattern phrase keys) or abbreviations and the text processor automatically converts them to desired phrases.
The above function in the prior art text processor is, however, not an easy-to-use one. The user must select a certain number of phrases and assign special keys to those phrases or determine abbreviations therefor, and register the relations thereof in the text processor in terms of predetermined sequences. The registration work itself is troublesome, and it is not easy to predict what phrases will be frequently used in a document to be prepared. If a draft is previously prepared and it is finally composed by the word processor, the input function by the macro code may work relatively well but it will be of no use if a document is to be prepared by the word processor without a draft.